It is the concern of the authors that there is unwarranted use of fumigants and volatile or non-persistent fungicides in paper conservation processes. Some conservation processes involve the use of chemicals which are known to be fungicidal and thus the process itself should act as a fungicide. To determine if this is the case thirteen processes used in paper conservation were tested for their inherent fungicidal features. The results showed that conservation processes which use borax, methyl alcohol or chloramine T had inherent fungicidal action. The use of gelatine or methyl cellulose introduced fungi and enhanced fungus growth. The results support the premise that if the conservation process is fungicidal in action there is no need for a follow-up fumigation or treatment with a volatile or nonpersistent fungicide.